Thursday, September 08, 2016

Trump's softer voice

The usual mosh-pit media reaction on Twitter and elsewhere to last night's forum is going on as wordsmiths debate words. Forget words. People hear what they want these days.

What matters is voice and appearance. There, Trump won.

In listening to Trump's speech on Wednesday about the military and his later appearance on the Matt Lauer Forum, I heard a different Donald Trump. The high whine was gone, replaced by a softer and more reassuring voice.

I liked it. In speeches he had a tendency to sound like a New Yorker hailing a cab. (I doubt he has hailed a cab in the last 30 years.) I understand the need to be assertive and to bring attention to oneself on the campaign trail. But the voice over time got annoying.

This is a different voice, an indoor voice, the father calming the child in a thunderstorm. It fit his script in the speech, and his role in the forum. He must calm the nation.

Last night, he looked good (and she did too) in the forum. I am surprised he has not gone full CEO, but instead is following a more traditional way of presenting a presidential candidacy. But this is because he set everyone up for just wanting him to look normal. Well, that's all he has to do. Even I could pull of acting normal for two months. I made it out of basic training 43 years ago, right? And he is.

But he also showed more confidence on Wednesday than he has shown in the past. The internal polls (he is doing them now) must be encouraging. Surely the public ones are.

Once again, he was in command of the interview. Viewers had no doubt who the alpha male was.

Her attire was normal. Red top, black trousers. No tent! No mo' Mao! She looked normal. But she was not in control. When pressed, her voice rose and she sounded awful. She really has a shrill voice. But overall, she got away with her lies. No American died in Libya? But still, she must have fallen short. Judging by the way the media jumped on Matt Lauer, she must have had a bad night. Losers whine.

Trump's business-suit-and-tie attire continued. It's a good look. Dubya popularized the denim blue shirt-and-tan slacks look, which worked for his laidback presidency.

The casual look is dead, and I trust with its death go the tattoos, piercings, and other forms of self-mutilation. Life ain't a circus.

Appearance, tone of voice, and presence mean more than words. Trump needs to calm the nation. That is what you hear in the voice.

***

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Thatcher adapted her voice back in the day as well. Someone advised her to speak softly yet forcefully, as it locks attention, and to pitch her voice deeper. You can hear thie difference if you compare early Opposition Leader Thatcher with Prime Minister Thatcher.

I'm not sure your acting analogy is valid though, Don. After all, your own goal was not to do anything to make the sergeant notice you.

Of course Donald was relaxed. Nothing but open-ended softballs from Lauer who never challenged Trump on his lies. For once, The Hair got the easy treatment and Hillary got grilled. Good for Trump. Let's see if he can keep up such a demeanor in the debates.

Trump knows how to behave. I'd seen him in countless interviews with Cavuto and he never failed to impress me.

"Life ain't a circus."

I loved that note about "the tattoos, piercings, and other forms of self-mutilation".

If you did Basic 43 years ago, you remember when people (even teenagers) dressed up for anything. I'm about a decade older and remember how things changed from the early 60s, where everybody looked sharp almost all the time, to the Slob Culture of the hippie dippy late 60s, which still prevails. If Trump can bring back the Sharp era, another reason to vote for him.

And Cheating Hillary has yet another "scandal" to deal with after the NYPD claimed she had an earbud secreted in her left ear during her appearance on TV. Did Huma whisper "sweet nothings" in her ear every time Shrillary! was asked a question? Was this a practice run so she could get comfortable with the device for use in the upcoming presidential debates? We'll see.

I noticed it, too- the softer tone, more measured. However, I went back and listened to some of the interviews he has given in the last year and half- interviews I had only previously read transcripts of- and he had the same tone and demeanor- it seemed a first to me in an open forum with a live audience he was semi-addressing, and maybe that was the difference. Many of his live events I watch the video rather than transcripts because I want to see the crowd reactions.

He should keep this during the debates- it is highly effective for him, especially in comparison to Hillary!s droning and grating voice. In addition, it was doubly effective due to the confrontational stance Lauer took with Trump on Wednesday night. The contrast between Trump's relentless refusal to let Lauer bait him, and Lauer rude behavior was quite stunning to anyone who wasn't in the tank for Clinton already. If the moderators in the debates do what Lauer tried to last night, it is going to fail spectacularly.

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I live in Poca, West Virginia, with my lovely wife of 40 years, Lou Ann. I am an Army veteran and Cleveland State graduate. I retired after 40 years as a newspaperman. In 2016, I published "Trump the Press," which drew rave reviews at Power Line and Instapundit.